Remodeling a bathroom has the potential to be a rewarding experience that contributes long-term value and comfort to your home. Whether your project involves sprucing up a powder room, optimizing a family bathroom, or expanding a master bath, you have the ability to fulfill a specific need for your household and enhance your quality of life.
However, smooth, stress-free bathroom renovations are not a given. As with any type of home improvement project in Northern Illinois, they require careful planning, preparation, and design. Over the next several weeks or months, the decisions you make will impact the cost, timeliness, and efficiency of your bathroom remodel.
What are Common Bathroom Remodeling Mistakes?
During the course of your project, a lot of your focus will naturally go toward what you need to do and the right steps to take. However, it can be just as helpful to also consider what not to do, or the mistakes commonly made during the bathroom remodeling experience. Being aware of these potential issues in advance gives you the opportunity to be proactive and take measures to prevent or mitigate their effects.
Here is a look at some common bathroom renovation mistakes to avoid during your upcoming project in Northern Illinois:
1. Not Clarifying a Plan
Planning and design are crucial to an efficient home improvement project. Before you can start those activities, however, you need to establish a clear vision. In other words, why are you remodeling your bathroom? Has the primary user(s) of the bathroom changed? Would you like to better utilize your existing space or add extra square footage? Is the layout poorly designed or lacking in adequate storage? Do you want to improve your energy efficiency? Have your tastes changed in terms of style and color scheme? Without having a clear vision and refining your priorities, you risk wasting time and money when trying to design your remodel. You also may end up including features or materials that don’t contribute to your ultimate goal.
2. Setting an Unrealistic Budget
You can’t develop a precise, itemized budget until later in the project—after the design drawings are complete and you’ve nailed down selections and specifications. On the other hand, you don’t want to go into your project blindly in terms of cost. First, you need to decide how much you can and want to spend on your bathroom renovation. From there, do some preliminary research into what’s possible at that price. Understanding average costs and your own financial restrictions enable you to set realistic expectations and have a more rewarding experience.
3. Neglecting Ventilation
Your bathroom exhaust fan may seem like a minor component, but it plays a key role in the proper ventilation of your space. If you already have a fan, make sure to clean construction dust and debris from the vent before replacing or updating the outward components. Otherwise, use your bathroom remodel as an opportunity to add an appropriately sized exhaust fan and talk to your remodeler about other ways to improve ventilation and prevent humidity from getting trapped in this enclosed space.
4. Prioritizing Appearance Over Function
You want your newly remodeled bathroom to be a beautiful and welcoming space where you can achieve daily comfort, relaxation, and rejuvenation. However, the function is the top priority. That involves planning your layout carefully, potentially relocating your main bathroom components, and properly identifying your storage needs. There should be enough space in the bathroom for you to move around comfortably and for each feature to perform at an optimal level.
5. Choosing the Wrong Materials
Bathrooms experience more moisture and humidity than other spaces in your house, which means you can’t always use the same materials and expect them to perform in the same way. The wrong materials won’t be able to withstand the quick temperature shifts and high moisture levels, causing them to become warped, moldy or stressed. Select materials that are specifically designed for bathrooms or that at least have the right durability and quality to live a long time in this space.
6. Lacking a Contingency Plan
Your bathroom remodel in Northern Illinois could last several weeks or even a few months. While the work is being done at your home, you can expect noise, debris, and a change to your daily routine. Make sure the members of your household have met ahead of time about how your schedules will be affected when one of your bathrooms is indisposed. You may need to check with your remodeler about setting up a temporary shower if you’ll be extremely disadvantaged during the construction phase of your bathroom renovation.
7. Deprioritizing Natural Light
There are numerous benefits to flooding your bathroom with natural light. It has the potential to decrease your energy bills, enhance the aesthetic of your space and regularly brighten your mood. If you don’t have any windows or other natural light sources, such as solar tubes or skylights, consider installing some during your upcoming bathroom remodel. Be careful where you place new windows so as not to detract from privacy and comfort.
Finding a Bathroom Remodeler in Northern Illinois
One of the worst mistakes you can make is attempting to remodel your bathroom on your own without the proper experience and equipment. This project is a major investment into your home and your life; it should be handled with care, which means not just by a professional remodeler but by the right one. As a highly experienced remodeler, Ken Spears Construction is just that. Our team can guide you through each step of the bathroom remodeling process while also identifying potential pitfalls and mistakes and giving insight on how to avoid them.
